Los Alamos rls on JIMO reactor

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases...0212081249.htm

contains:
"Los Alamos Leading Fast-paced Reactor Research To Power Planned
Journey To Jupiter's Icy Moons

LOS ALAMOS, N.M., Feb. 10, 2004 -- A proposed U.S. mission to
investigate three ice-covered moons of Jupiter will demand fast-paced
research, fabrication and realistic non-nuclear testing of a prototype
nuclear reactor within two years, says a Los Alamos National
Laboratory scientist."

and

"Despite the lack of U.S. space reactor research in recent decades,
Los Alamos has continued to examine technologies and concepts for a
rapid and affordable development program. Working with NASA's Marshall
Space Flight Center, Los Alamos has resolved many hardware issues at
the component and system level.

Los Alamos and NASA-Marshall researchers, working with colleagues from
NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory and Sandia National Laboratories,
have built successively more powerful nuclear electric propulsion
reactor components, including a 30-kilowatt reactor core without fuel,
one-third of a 100-kilowatt system (core plus heat exchanger) and a
single module suitable for a 500-kilowatt reactor core. Extensive
non-nuclear testing of these and other components continues.

Most researchers have agreed on the best fuels and reactor
construction materials for the proposed fast-spectrum, externally
controlled JIMO reactor. The major design choice that remains is how
best to transport power from the reactor core to the power conversion
system."

This links back to the LANL site's copy of the release at
http://www.lanl.gov/worldview/news/r...e/04-005.shtml

/dps